Whether you are struggling with an active eating disorder, disordered eating, or negative body image, cultivating peace surrounding your body image is an important cornerstone of experiencing wellness.
Learning what it means to have an accepting, compassionate, and trusting relationship with yourself and your body is needed for holistic wellness and having the self-confidence to reach your goals. No matter how long you have tried to make peace with your body, it is possible.
Neutrality as the Goal
Living in a culture that perpetuates ideas of what a body “should” look like and at the same time pressures you to love your body, it can feel confusing to feel OK in the body you are in. This may ring true especially if you have spent years stuck in the throes of diet culture and body dissatisfaction.
What if, rather than feeling like you have to love your body, you made neutrality the goal — where your body is not good nor bad, it just is?
If loving your body is your goal, neutrality and acceptance are the first and only steps you need to take.
Viewing Your Body as a Vessel
When cultivating peace with your body image, you must begin to take the focus off of your body as an indicator of your worth (especially your self-worth).
Instead, shift the narrative and disconnect your sense of worth from your body. This can allow you to view your body as a vessel that enables you to live rather than something that needs to conform to certain societal ideas of what a body should look like.
Practicing Self-Compassion
Self-compassion is about shifting your relationship with yourself from one of constant criticism to compassion. To do this, you need to be aware of what your inner critic sounds like. How does it speak to you? When and where does it show up?
Your inner critic is not you; it is a result of internalized messages you have received. When you give yourself permission to externalize this voice and not believe it to be the truth, you can enable yourself to have a better relationship with yourself.
Practice, Practice, Practice
Feeling at peace with your body image takes practice. It is something that you get to keep chipping away at as you gain new insights about ourselves, begin appreciating your body in ways that did not feel accessible in the past, and root deeper into who you are outside of your body.
Creating peace with yourself and your body can be challenging and uncomfortable to navigate. At Avalon Malibu, we recognize how difficult the relationship with your body can feel. We also know how possible it is to heal this relationship. Whether it’s through cultivating body neutrality, externalizing the inner critic, or discovering who you are outside of your body, we can support you as you heal and come home to yourself. To learn more about how we can help you, call us today at (844) 857-5992.Â
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